Web integration, timing, access, and distribution control

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides systems and techniques for improved back-end integration of third-party content and an administrative framework allowing for user experience management for a computer-based environment. Described herein, for example, are approaches to improving secure access to multiple web-based systems, integrating web-based content, and controlling timing of web interaction. The problems addressed herein relate to coordinating access and delivery of web content from and to multiple sources and multiple users in an integrated and time-controlled manner.

PRIORITY AND INCORPORATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/624,336 (Atty. Docket No. BCHAS.014A), filed Feb. 17, 2015, andtitled “WEB INTEGRATION, TIMING, ACCESS, AND DISTRIBUTION CONTROL,”which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 61/940,088, filed Feb. 14, 2014. Any and allapplications for which a foreign or domestic priority claim isidentified in the Application Data Sheet as filed with the presentapplication are hereby incorporated by reference under 37 CFR 1.57. Theentire disclosure of each of the above items is hereby made part of thisspecification as if set forth fully herein and incorporated by referencefor all purposes, for all that it contains.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of present disclosure relate to systems and techniques forback-end protocols for integrating web-based content, and controllingtiming and access thereto and distribution thereof.

BACKGROUND

It can be difficult to coordinate access and delivery of web contentfrom and to multiple sources and multiple users in an integrated andtime-controlled manner. In particular, security concerns may competewith ease of access; APIs may not be compatible; different timing andallocation requirements may be in tension or be initially non-aligned.Accordingly, the present disclosure addresses these and other concernsin a computer environment.

SUMMARY

The systems, methods, and devices described herein each have severalaspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirableattributes.

Described herein, for example, are approaches to improving secure accessto multiple web-based systems, integrating web-based content, andcontrolling timing of web interaction. The problems addressed hereinrelate to coordinating access and delivery of web content from and tomultiple sources and multiple users in an integrated and time-controlledmanner. The approaches described help resolve security concerns whilestill providing ease of access. Solutions include coordinating withmultiple APIs, and assessing and coordinating different timing andallocation requirements.

A method is described that can automatically access and store currentsecurity, access, and graphic interface requirements for a firstexternal web-based system using a first API specific to that firstexternal web-based system. The method can further include automaticallyaccessing and storing current security, access, and graphic interfacerequirements for a second external web-based system using a second APIspecific to that second external web-based system. The method canfurther include providing a base portal configured to access the firstand second external web-based systems and integrate content from each ofthe two systems. The method can further include establishing a useraccount for accessing the base portal. The method can further includeusing the current security and access requirements from each of thefirst and second external web-based systems to establish a minimum levelsecurity protocol that complies with the current security and accessrequirements for each of the first and second external web-basedsystems, the user account requiring at least a unique base portal useridentifier and base portal access password. The method can furtherinclude providing for creation of a base account through the baseportal. The method can further include using creation of the baseaccount and the first and second APIs to trigger automatic creation of afirst linked user account and a second linked user account, one for eachof the first and second external web-based systems, each of which linkeduser accounts is uniquely linked to the base account and cannot be usedwhen the first and second web-based systems are accessed directly. Themethod can further include requiring periodic access and use of contentfrom each of the first and second external web-based systems, such asperiodic access comprising at least once a week. A minimum number ofperiodic access times can also be established—for example, once a day oronce a week for an entire summer, an entire semester, an entire month, acertain number of weeks, etc. The method can further includeestablishing at least two separate interactive visual controls withinthe base portal, the controls linked specifically with the first andsecond external web-based systems, each control operable to periodicallyestablish secure access to each of the external web-based systems withinthe base portal, the base system responsive to selection of each controlby rapidly rendering content from the external web-based systems in acombined base interface. The method can further include establishingtiming constraints by accessing each of the first and second linked useraccounts or the base account at least once per week and recording acurrent snapshot of data associated with each linked account. The datacan include one or more of the following: a cumulative point totalassociated with the user; a value associated with how long the user hasperformed a certain assignment; a value associated with how many wordsthe user has typed; and/or time of the user's last action in the linkedaccount. The method can further include using the timing constraints torestrict access to the linked user accounts from the base portal oraccess to and functionality of the base portal.

Furthermore, described herein is a system. The system can comprise anelectronic database comprising a plurality of user entries, each userentry comprising logon and use-metric information. The system canfurther comprise a hardware processor, the hardware processor configuredto execute software instructions. The software instructions can beconfigured to cause the hardware processor to do one or more of thefollowing: receive registration information from a user computerregarding a first user; access, over a network, a partner API toregister the first user with a partner website or to link the first userwith a user account associated with the partner website; receive theuser account, the user account associated with the first user; store inthe electronic database a first user entry of the plurality of userentries, the first user entry comprising the registration informationand the user account; direct the first user, over the network, toassignments to be completed by the first user on the partner website;receive, over the network, first user metrics associated with completedassignments by the first user; store in the electronic database, as apart of the first user entry, the first user metrics; determine, basedon the first user metrics, whether the first user has sufficientlycompleted assignments for a first clue, wherein the first clue comprisesa series of animations; in response to determining that the first userhas sufficiently completed assignments for a first clue, transmit cluedisplay data, to a user device associated with the first user,configured to display the first clue; determine, based on the first usermetrics, whether the first user has sufficiently completed assignmentsfor a final clue; and in response to determining that the first user hassufficiently completed assignments for a final clue, transmit final cluedisplay data, to the user device associated with the first user,configured to display the final clue. In some example implementations, auser can be a student, and the clue can relate to a treasure hunt, suchthat the final clue may contain information leading to a treasure buriedwithin the earth. Not all contests, incentives, or rewards may involveclues. Incentives (e.g., rewards, prizes, payments, etc.) can beprovided directly, rather than through an additional mental puzzle orchallenge. In examples that call for clues, they can be provided invarious ways to users that have earned access to them. Clues may beprovided in audio, visual, numerical, literary, and/or other ways. Cluesmay be provided through a still image or a video, whether recorded fromlive actors or animation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following drawings and the associated descriptions are provided toillustrate embodiments of the present disclosure and do not limit thescope of the claims. Aspects and many of the attendant advantages ofthis disclosure will become more readily appreciated as the same becomebetter understood by reference to the following detailed description,when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A illustrates the system of processes involved in improved contentintegration.

FIG. 1B illustrates an overview of improved content integration.

FIG. 2A illustrates a series of processes involved in communicating andauthenticating with a content provider.

FIG. 2B illustrates a series of processes involved in obtaining datasnapshots of user info associated with a user's linked account.

FIG. 3 illustrates a framework for prohibiting unauthorized useractivity during a time-controlled progression.

FIG. 4 illustrates a framework for a user submitting content forapproval by a reviewer.

FIG. 5 illustrates a framework restricting the user in submittingguesses for a contest.

FIG. 6 illustrates a user experience in a basic computer-based academiccontest utilizing improved content integration.

FIG. 7 is a screenshot of a portal page in an example use scenario.

FIG. 8 is a screenshot of a dashboard page in an example use scenario.

FIG. 9 is another screenshot of a dashboard page in an example usescenario.

FIG. 10 is a screenshot of a treasure hunt page in an example usescenario.

FIG. 11 is a screenshot of third-party content in an example usescenario.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Although certain preferred embodiments and examples are disclosed below,inventive subject matter extends beyond the specifically disclosedembodiments to other alternative embodiments and/or uses and tomodifications and equivalents thereof. Thus, the scope of the claimsappended hereto is not limited by any of the particular embodimentsdescribed below. For example, in any method or process disclosed herein,the acts or operations of the method or process may be performed in anysuitable sequence and are not necessarily limited to any particulardisclosed sequence. Various operations may be described as multiplediscrete operations in turn, in a manner that may be helpful inunderstanding certain embodiments; however, the order of descriptionshould not be construed to imply that these operations are orderdependent. Additionally, the structures, systems, and/or devicesdescribed herein may be embodied as integrated components or as separatecomponents. For purposes of comparing various embodiments, certainaspects and advantages of these embodiments are described. Notnecessarily all such aspects or advantages are achieved by anyparticular embodiment. Thus, for example, various embodiments may becarried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage orgroup of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving otheraspects or advantages as may also be taught or suggested herein.

As described above, embodiments of the present disclosure relate tocomputerized systems and methods designed to provide improvedintegration of content and easy administration of the user experience.

A web portal related to the above software and hardware may: provide fora web interface for operators to manage their accounts; allow forstorage of some or all uploaded data into a secured database; providefor authentication of all access to the web portal; allow users toremotely access their account and billing information via a special or aregular web browser. All traffic may be encrypted.

The computerized systems and methods described in this disclosure areplatform agnostic and may be configured to run on any hardware computingplatform, such as Mac, PC, and mobile computing devices, or may beconfigured to run on any software computing platforms, such as throughapplications or websites.

Account Creation and Linking

Referring now to FIG. 1A, an embodiment is shown of the system ofprocesses involved in improved content integration. The Determine NewUser 101 process first determines whether the user is new, or has apre-existing base account. One method for doing this is presenting theuser with input fields to enter relevant account information such asusername/user ID and password, while also presenting a separate link orbutton allowing new users to enroll or register. If the user is a newuser without a pre-existing base account, then the user can be directedto the Register 103 process. The Register 103 process collectsinformation from the user needed to create Base Account 105. This caninclude relevant user information such as birthdate or age, grade,username or user ID, password, email, information associated with aparent of the user, etc. The Register 103 process may be configured tonot allow the creation of Base Account 105 unless the user has inputteda unique username or user ID. Since Base Account 105 can be linked toaccounts at third-party content providers, it may be helpful for a userto have an individual account that no other user shares. After BaseAccount 105 is created, the information can be used to then createvarious Linked Account 107 accounts at different content providers. Thismay be done by passing relevant user information to a content providerto create the linked accounts for the user. Linked account informationor ID may be passed to the content provider in order to actually linkthe Linked Account 107, to the base account, Base Account 105. Thelinking may consist of storing the base account and linked accountinformation in a data structure on any means of data storage. Forexample, the base account username and password, along with all linkedaccount usernames and passwords, for a user may be stored in an array ora database, such as MySQL, which is then stored on a hard drive,portable electronic media, cloud storage, etc.

Log-In Processes

The user may then be sent to Log In 109 process, which is also arrivedat if the user has entered a valid base account username and password atthe Determine New User 101 stage. In that case, the base accountcredentials can be verified by comparing the user's inputted credentialsagainst the base account credentials in the data structure that storesall the base account information alongside their associated linkedaccount information. If the log in has been successful, then at the LogIn 109 process, the user will be simultaneously logged into Base Account111 and any associated Linked Account 113 using the credentials andinformation stored in the data structure. This way, the user can gainaccess to any linked accounts by only logging in once, which can be veryhelpful for improved content integration. If the user had justregistered, then Base Account 111 may be the same account as BaseAccount 105, and Linked Account 113 may be the same linked account asLinked Account 107. Linked Account 113 may pass to the user anauthentication token that will let the content providers know that theuser has successfully logged into the linked account when the user seeksto view that content later on. In some cases, the authentication tokenmay be a cookie. Alternatively or additionally, the system may look upthe linked account credentials and pass them off to the content provideronly after the user has requested to view content. The actual logginginto the content provider may not actually occur until the SelectAssociated Linked Account 117 process or the Access Content Provider 119process.

Generally, after the user has been logged into the accounts, the usermay be brought to a dashboard, instruction page, or home page that maybe provided by a base account (through which access to content providersis controlled and adapted, using security protocols, timing constraints,and visual integration.) An example of a content provider is aneducational website. The user may attempt to do an interactive procedure(e.g., in an educational game context, a challenge or assignment),invoking the Click Content Link 115 process. The Click Content Link 115process can direct a user to the content held by the associated contentprovider. However, it may be possible for a base portal originator toprovide content rather than a third party content provider, in whichcase the Click Content Link 115 process can direct the user to thecontent that is hosted internally by the base portal originator. In sucha situation, the Select Associated Linked Account 117 and Access ContentProvider 119 processes can be skipped because a linked account may notbe not necessary, as the content can be accessed already by the user viathe base account. An example of a base portal originator is an academicchallenge provider—an entity or system that provides challenges andrewards to motivate and incentivize regular, secure, time-controlledaccess to and input to web interfaces (e.g., those providing educationcontent, both from the base portal and from third party contentproviders).

The Select Associated Linked Account 117 process may then determine,based on the content link, which linked account to access or theappropriate linked account credentials. An example of a third-partycontent provider in the education context is Khan Academy, accessiblethrough the web at <https://wwww.khanacademy.org/>. For example, theuser may have clicked a link to do a math assignment, and can be broughtto their Khan Academy linked account to do the math problems provided tothat account. To gain access to this account however, Access ContentProvider 119 process may need to be invoked. The linked accountcredentials, and any other relevant user or account information, mayneed to be passed off to the content provider. For example, the user'sage or birthdate may be sent to the content provider to later play arole in rightsizing content. All of this may be done through an API, orany kind of authentication protocol. Moreover, the content provider mayallow the user access to the linked account if the user alreadypossesses an authentication token.

Khan Academy is a merely non-limiting example of a third-party contentprovider. Some further non-limiting examples of third-party providers ofcontent, curriculum, and learning/activity options may be Rosetta Stone,Google Books, and any providers of physical or exercise challenges.

Content Adjustment and Customization

After gaining access to the content on the linked account, the contentprovider may choose to use a Rightsize Content 121 process. It isdesirable for the content provider to provide age or grade appropriatecontent for the user. For example, it will be better for a sixth graderto solve six grade math problems rather than first grade math problems.Thus, if the age or grade of the user has been passed off to the contentprovider during the Access Content Provider 119 process, the contentprovider can make sure to send the appropriate content via RightsizeContent 121 process. However, this Rightsize Content 121 process may notbe necessary if the linked account to the content provider was createdwith age, birthdate, or grade information at the time of registration.In that case, the linked account can be tied to an age or grade and thisinformation may not need to be passed to the content provider when theuser accesses content. However, passing this information to the contentprovider may be useful when the content provider does not keep track ofage or grade information, or keep that information up-to-date. After theRightsize Content 121 process, the content is delivered to user 123.

The framework may be capable of rightsizing content for the user. Thecontent provided to the particular user by a content provider may becontent appropriate to that user. In an education context,appropriateness for a user can be defined by a user's (e.g., astudent's) age or grade level. For example, a sixth grader may not beautomatically presented with reading assignments of a first grade level.In order to do this, the age or grade level of the user may be passed tothe content provider, such as via the API, when the linked account iscreated or when the user is attempting to access the linked account orcontent associated with the content provider. Thus, the provider mayrecognize age and/or grade level of each student as accounts are createdfor each student (during one-step registration above), as the student islogging into the linked account (during single sign-on), or when thestudent clicks a link to view an assignment or challenge from thatprovider. If content turns out to be too easy or too difficult for thestudent (as identified either by attrition, student/parent feedback,automatically as students continue to miss math problems, somecombination of these, or by some other method entirely), the frameworkmay present option(s) for adjusting difficulty level for that particularstudent. These options potentially include, but are not limited to:automated content recalibration, user manual reset via presentedsettings, and admin reset options.

Content Integration

Referring now to FIG. 1 B, an outline is shown of how improved contentintegration works. There can be multiple users, such as user 125 anduser 127. Both user 125 and user 127 need not have direct access to anyexternal content providers. Their direct access is to the Base Portal129. Base Portal 129 interfaces with user 125 and user 127 and has anadministrative framework like the one discussed herein, which handlessecurity, content, and timing for the users. Base Portal 129 is capableof passing information back and forth to External Content Providers 131,133, and 135. Base Portal 129 may pass this information via a custom APItailored for the external content provider, such as the use of API 137,139, and 141 in order to interface with External Content Providers 131,133, and 135. Thus, the educational content provided to Base Portal 129is provided to the users, who never have to interface directly with anyexternal content providers. (Such an advantage can be referred to insome cases as “seamless,” and is an example of the improved contentintegration discussed herein.) The users need only register and log-inonce, to Base Portal 129, to get access to content provided from amultitude of sources.

The framework may be able to further adjust for the difficulty of theeducation content provided by various content providers. In someembodiments, adjusting for difficulty may be done simply using the“common denominator” solution, where all users need to attain a certainnumber of “minutes read”, a “word count”, or “energy points.” In such asystem, managing difficulty across users is not a tremendous issuebecause rightsizing educational content can be done by the contentprovider as previously described. Different users can be essentiallydoing the same amount of work, but the difficulty of that work can varybased on the user's age or grade. However in some embodiments, theframework may also allow for the internal scaling of difficulty. Thismay become an issue if a system provider (e.g., an academic challengeprovider or base portal) wishes to weight different subjects (andtherefore content from different providers—e.g., third party contentproviders) at different difficulty levels, or if a specific contentprovider assigns content difficulty in an idiosyncratic manner. Forexample, the content provider may present for only the older students avery, very difficult problem at the end of the assignment. The academicchallenge provider or base portal may wish to correct for that throughthe use of the framework, which may allow for an internal metric, suchas internal points. Varying amounts of internal points can be assignedto the completion of problems for the different kinds of problem formatsassociated with the different content providers. Thus, the difficultystructure for a content provider can be mapped out and correlated to aninternal point system.

The embodiments described herein provide distinct improvements tocomputer technology, namely the back-end integration of content fromthird-party content providers in order to enhance user experience. Forexample, using the system of processes contemplated and disclosed inFIG. 1, the system allows for an user account to relatively smoothly andsimply (e.g., “seamlessly”) access the educational content fromdifferent providers without having to log into multiple accounts. Anadministrative framework is also provided for the administrators of theacademic challenge to manage and enhance the user experience in theacademic challenge. This framework allows for a variety of features,including parental control of student accounts, tracking the weeklyprogress of students within the academic challenge, the grading ofwriting assignment submissions, and other features integral to anacademic challenge or contest.

In some embodiments, the administrative framework may comprise anycontent-management system or framework. For example, the administrativeframework may comprise Drupal, WordPress, Apache Sling, etc. In someembodiments, the administrative framework may comprise Drupal andutilize traditional features in the Drupal framework. In someembodiments however, the administrative framework may be an improved ormodified version of a traditional content-management framework. In someembodiments, the administrative framework may comprise an entirelycustom content-management system or framework.

The choice of content-management framework may be important because itmay dictate the additional features available that are not present in atraditional content-management framework. For example, a traditionalDrupal method is to have user accounts controlled by an individual, withnon-administrators having no control over other user accounts. In such asetup, a unique email address is required for each user. However, insome embodiments it may be necessary for the administrative framework toallow for parental control of student accounts.

In order to allow for improved (e.g., seamless) content integration, theframework preferably can provide access to content on a third-partyprovider's website that would traditionally be accessed with an accountspecifically registered with the third party. Providing a user with abase account that grants access to a unique linked account at the thirdparty content provider allows for the user to receive individualizedcontent and track their own individual progress. This becomes a moredifficult issue when there are multiple content providers, as the user'saccess needs to be established with all of them and tracked. In someembodiments, the framework will provide for one-step registration sothat the user can register a base account associated with the academicchallenge and be simultaneously enrolled in linked accounts withthird-party content providers. The user need not be exposed at all tothe registering of the linked accounts.

Example Context and Use Scenario

Summer vacations do not usually provide any intellectual or academicchallenge for school students. This can be remedied by online educationsystems, which are a way that students can learn outside the traditionalschool setting. In many instances, online education is set up in asimilar manner as the traditional school setting. For example, a studentmay view pre-recorded lectures on various topics while completing dailyor weekly assignments on specific topics.

These online education systems may further leverage gameplay to enhancelearning. Games actively engage young students and make them moremotivated in their learning. These games can be integrated into thelearning component in a variety of ways. For example, the lectures canbe instructional games, or the assignments can be games that studentsneed to complete in order to progress. Alternatively or additionally,the online education system itself can be a game that the student islooking to complete by accomplishing goals or accumulating points.

These online education systems built around gameplay require a way ofintegrating the assignments and curricula, which often may be providedby third-party educational content providers. Improved (e.g., seamless)integration of educational content prevents young students from havingto deal with administrative tasks like logging-in to access theeducational content. This allows the students to focus on theassignments and stay fully-immersed in the gameplay. Furthermore, a wayof providing easy administration of the user experience for thoserunning the online education system also allows students to focus onassignments and gameplay by reducing the amount of detracting userexperiences. Thus, the present disclosure provides for improvedintegration of educational content and an administrative framework formanaging and enhancing the user experience in an online educationsystem, specifically allowing for students to be continually motivatedand engaged in a fun and academic computer-based treasure hunt for aconfigurable period of time.

Accordingly, one non-limiting example of an application for thetechnical solutions described herein is student learning environment. Inone such embodiment that improves upon the traditional Drupal methoddiscussed above with respect to FIG. 1, the student user accounts arecontrolled by the student's parents via a “Student” data structure thatcontains all student info. Parents are owners of the “Student” datastructure, which means only the Parent and administrators can access astudent's data. Students cannot change their own info. Any changes madeto the “Student” data structure are automatically made to student'sstandard Drupal user account (which controls the student login process).Furthermore, a student unique email address is generated by using theParent User ID. When a student requests new password, the password issent to the parent instead of using the unique email address. In someembodiments, parent and student accounts are automatically created attime of payment via a tie-in to the Stripe payment processing API.However, the actual method of payment need not involve a Stripe API, andcan be any method or API that allows for web and mobile payments, suchas WePay, PayPal, Balanced, BankBox, etc. In some embodiments, theadministrative framework further allows anyone with administrativeprivilege to change any user info associated with the user's account. Sothe administrative framework may be used to add or subtract points froma user's account, or it may also be used to easily move users todifferent points or stages within the academic challenge or GUI, in theevent that the user has become stuck somewhere.

In some embodiments, this same method that allows the student's parentsor an administrator account to control the student's data can be used inany other situation where a parent-child relationship exists. Forexample, a similar administrative framework, which improves upon thetraditional Drupal method, can be used by a bank in order to control andedit data associated with an account of one of the bank's branches. Theframework may also be used by a bank or its branches to control and editdata associated with a customer account, and the customer may be unableto change their own info by themselves. Whether this framework is beoptimal for a situation involving a parent-child relationship may bedetermined on a case-by-case basis, for example.

Referring now to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, an embodiment is shown of theseries of processes involved in communicating and authenticating with acontent provider, as well as an embodiment of the series of processesinvolved in obtaining data snapshots of user information associated witha user's linked account. These processes may be helpful in tracking theuser's progress within the academic challenge and keeping theinstruction page up-to-date.

Access to Content

It can be useful to automatically provide the user access to all of thecontent of these third-party providers before-hand, because it can avoidneed for a user to pause to gain access in the middle of the academicchallenge. Furthermore, integrating with a multitude of third-partycontent providers allows the academic challenge to pick the content fromthe best-in-class content provider for a given academic subject. Forexample, the assignments in the academic challenge can comprise mathproblems from a math vendor and reading challenges from a readingvendor. In this example, integrating access to the content from bothvendors also allows a user to go through the academic challenge withoutinterruption, and the user may smoothly (e.g., seamlessly) switch fromdoing math problems to reading challenges. In some embodiments, theframework provides for single sign-on, such that a user can log intotheir base account associated with the academic challenge and besimultaneously logged into the user's linked accounts with third partycontent providers. The user need not be aware of the logging-in to thelinked accounts.

Efficient Access

In some embodiments, both the one-step registration and single sign-onprocesses may be provided for through the content provider's custom APIor another protocol. In some embodiments, the one-step registration ishandled by creating linked accounts through an API post or some otherprotocol. This allows for different third-party providers to havedifferent field requirements and these custom fields can be built intothe registration process.

In some embodiments, if a user does not have an account already, theframework may obtain information from the user and enroll the user in abase account that allows the user access to the system. One-stepregistration may be done by passing over student data over to the thirdparty content provider through the use of a custom API. No password isneeded to be passed over in some embodiments, since the student may beauthenticated through single sign-on. However, the relevant informationobtained from the user can be used to generate a unique ID that can beused to match a user's base account to the linked accounts of variouscontent providers or vendors. These linked accounts may be linked to thebase account in order to provide for single sign-on, so that the useronly needs to access their base account in order to simultaneouslyobtain access to the linked accounts and the content provided at thevarious content providers or vendors.

Linked Accounts, Security in Educational Context

An example of a third part content provider is MyON.com. This exampleprovides an example case for describing some of the solutions providedherein. For example, linked accounts may be established at theeducational content provider, MyON.com. In this process, the student mayregistered for a base account by providing a User ID (may be required tobe unique) and password, which may require certain characteristics, suchas being more than 2 characters. The framework may be able to provide anerror code to tell a user or parent if a user id is not unique. It maybe required that the user ID is a unique ID before data is sent to acontent provider, which in this case is MyOn. For non-unique ids, aunique number may be appended to the user ID to make it unique. Theframework may also distribute a key that a parent enters in order toaccess registration screen, or require a key field that parents muchfill out for access. The registration form itself may comprise a fewfields such as username and password, an email field for the user'semail address, or a text verification field. The email fields and thetext verification fields may be used to verify the user. For example,the text verification field may require a CAPTCHA text entry, or a keyor value that was emailed to the user after the user's email address iscollected. When this information is collected (and optionally verifiedvia email or another method), the framework may then send over this datato the content provider's system, or automatically and directly createthe account in their system through the use of an API. If only user datais being sent to the content provider, then the content provider mayestablish an account for the student using that data provided. Theregistration screen may be on a separate portal site, with a link overto the separate portal from a base portal (e.g., a main academicchallenge website). An embedded URL may be provided to students or theircomputers. This embedded URL, when passed to a partner, may identifythese students as belonging to the base portal (e.g., an academicchallenge website such as BrainChase.com).

Further to the discussion above regarding linking, if the user alreadyhas an account, then the user can log-in to access their base account,which may also provide simultaneous access to any of the linked accountsthat are linked to the base account. Once the user logs into their baseaccount, they may gain access to all the linked accounts of the variouscontent provides or vendors and, thus, all the content, assignments, andcurricula involved in the academic challenge, for example. In someembodiments, accessing the base account may provide direct access to thelinked accounts or allow the user to access or view content from thecontent providers or vendors. In some embodiments, the linked accountswill be associated with providers or vendors of educational content,such as <www.myon.com> and <www.khanacademy.com>. This can be used bythe provider of the base portal (e.g., an academic challenge provider)to smoothly integrate the content from various content providers orvendors. When the user is playing through the academic challenge, theuser will not need to proceed through another log-in or enrollmentprocess. The user will not need to log into a content provider's site inorder to access assignments or curriculum, and may simply be directed tothe assignments on the content provider's site. In some embodiments, thebase portal provider (e.g., an academic challenge provider) may notactually be directing the user to a third party content provider's site.Instead, the user may remain on the base portal (e.g., academicchallenge) website and simply be provided educational content that hasbeen extracted from the content provider. This extraction may occurthrough the use of the content provider's API to communicate the contentbetween the base portal (e.g., academic challenge website) and thecontent provider's website.

An example of a base portal provider that can also be an academicchallenge provider is Brain Chase, available through<www.brainchase.com>. Thus, in some embodiments of this single sign-onmethodology, students may be able to log in to their Brain Chase accounton <www.brainchase.com>, then link directly from this base account intoa linked content provider's website account without logging in a secondtime. This may be accomplished through the use of an authenticationprotocol, such as but not limited to, SAML 2, OATH, or the LTI protocol.The student's ID may be passed to the content provider, and the contentprovider's system authenticates the student. This communication mayoccur through the use of an API.

Time Control and Snapshots

A third-party content provider typically keeps records of a trackablemetric for the users. Such metrics may include time spent reading for areading assignment, a word count for writing assignments, or a givenamount of points awarded on a pre-defined basis. Further metrics includepages read, problems completed, books opened/completed/abandoned, etc.Many third-party content providers allow for the sending of user data,such as the previously-mentioned examples of trackable metrics or astudent's cumulative point total, via a custom API to the base portalprovider (e.g., an academic challenge provider). Obtaining this userdata and keeping it up-to-date can be very helpful for motivatingstudents and maintaining proper function of the administrativeframework, which may possess features that require up-to-date user dataheld at by these third-party content providers. In some embodiments, thebase portal provider (e.g., academic challenge provider) may track andrefresh this user data from third-party content providers on areal-time, or close to real-time, basis. However, this method may not becompletely efficient because the values in this user-data are not likelyto change without additional user input. For example, an increase in thecumulative point total will typically occur upon the successfulcompletion of a problem or assignment. Thus, it may be more efficient totake a data snapshot of the user data held at third-party contentproviders only upon the occurrence of an event that may actually causethe user data to change. In some embodiments, the administrativeframework takes a data snapshot of the user data and checks the amountof points the user has anytime the user performs an action.

However, looking at only a singular data snapshot of the user data maycreate problems if it is necessary to keep track of changes in the datasnapshots or the user data. For example, it may be necessary to know howa data snapshot has changed over the course of a week in order tounderstand how much progress the user has made in that week. Remedyingthis problem may involve taking a series of data snapshots in order tomonitor change in the data in the time window. Thus, a base portalprovider (e.g., an academic challenge provider) may need to know thestarting point total for two consecutive weeks (or time periods) andthen be able to know the absolute value of the difference between thetwo values. The base portal provider may need to be able to capture userdata in a different way than the third-party content provider capturestheir user data.

Thus, in some embodiments, the administrative framework allows for thetaking of data snapshots of user information held at third-party contentproviders or vendors in order to determine the progress or achievementthe user has made in the academic challenge within just the week. Forexample, points tracked and displayed by the academic challenge providermay be “zeroed out” at the beginning of each week because a studentneeds to accumulate 10,000 points per week in order to progress in theacademic challenge. In some embodiments, every time user data isreceived via the API it is stored in a “Points” data structure with atimestamp, the cumulative data, and the delta between the cumulativedata from the current synchronization and the cumulative data from theprevious synchronization. The deltas are totaled for the current studentweek to determine student activity for the week. In some embodiments, ifat any time an error in synchronization occurs, or an administratorwishes to expedite progress, the administrator can simply insert a new“Points” data structure, enter the delta and assign it to the student.The student would then be given credit for those points for the week.

In order to take these data snapshots of user information and obtain theinformation in the first place from third-party content providers, theframework may preferably communicate and authenticate with thethird-party content providers. The exact authentication and informationrequest processes may be different or unique based on the third-partycontent provider, and it is typically provided for through the contentprovider's custom API and an authentication handshake. In someembodiments, in order for the framework to be able handle multiplethird-party content providers, the framework allows for swappable orswitchable APIs based on the specific third-party content provider thatinformation is being requested from. The framework may be able todetermine the specific third-party content provider that information isbeing requested from, and then select the corresponding API forcommunicating and authenticating with that content provider.

Authentication Examples

The framework may authenticate with the content provider Khan Academy.User Authentication can use the standard OAuth 1.0 protocol, forexample. When a student accesses any page in the Brain Chase app, arequest is sent to Khan Academy using the Khan Academy Secret Keyestablished through the Brain Chase Khan Academy account. Khan Academyverifies the info and sends back their own Authentication keys. BrainChase bundles the Khan Academy authentication keys into a request forthe latest information on the logged in student using the usernameprovided by the student. A snapshot of the student's data is taken. Ifthe points total for the week exceeds the student's goal for the weekthen the student is given credit for completing that week's MathChallenge. If completing the Math Challenge completes all LearningChallenges for the week, then the student is advanced to the next week.

In some embodiments, the framework may authenticate with the contentprovider MyON via the Brain Chase site. User Authentication can use thestandard OAuth 1.0 protocol. When a student is logged into MyON throughthe Brain Chase site, data is sent back to brainchase.com to a specificurl that “listens” for activity after every page action on the MyONsite. Based on the authentication protocols sent to Brain Chase by MyON,Brain Chase verifies receipt of the protocols and then sends its ownkeys back to MyON. MyON can then send the number of minutes read for thelast action. A Snapshot is created for the number of minutes received.If the minutes total for the week exceeds the student's goal for theweek then the student is given credit for completing that week's ReadingChallenge. If completing the Reading Challenge completes all LearningChallenges for the week then the student may be advanced to the nextweek.

In some embodiments, the framework with authenticate with the contentprovider myON via an iPhone or Android application. User Authenticationuses the standard OAuth 1.0 protocol. When a student establishes a Wi-Ficonnection to MyON through the app the total minutes read since the lastconnection are sent to MyON. Whenever a page is viewed on the BrainChase site, a request is sent to MyON for using the authenticationkeys/secret established with the MyON Brain Chase account. MyON respondswith its own keys/response data authenticating the request. Brain Chasebundles the MyON response data with a request for info on the specificlogged in user. MyON then sends the total minutes read for that user toBrain Chase. A snapshot is created for the total number of minutes read.If the minutes total for the week exceeds the student's goal for theweek then the student is given credit for completing that week's ReadingChallenge. If completing the Reading Challenge completes all LearningChallenges for the week then the student is advanced to the next week.

Turning to FIG. 2A, the Authorization Request 201 process is used oncethe user accesses educational content provided from any content provideror vendor. The base portal provider (e.g., an academic challengeprovider such as Brain Chase), sends an authorization request to thevendor using a secret key. This is performed using the ApplicationProgrammer Interface (API) provided by the content provider or vendor.Vendor Authentication 203 process is performed by the vendor when theyreceive the authorization request sent by Authorization Request 201. Thevendor verifies and authenticates the secret key, and then responds tothe academic challenge provider, or Brain Chase, with the vendor'sauthentication key. After obtaining this key, Brain Chase may requestdesired user information by providing the vendor's authentication key tothe vendor in the Information Request 205 process. In some embodiments,the user info request will comprise an amount of points associated withhow much of an assignment or curriculum that the user has completed. Forexample, Brain Chase may use Information Request 205 process to requestfrom Khan Academy how many “energy points” the specific user has in theuser's linked account. This series of processes allows for communicationof user information between the base portal provider (e.g., an academicchallenge provider) and other content providers, which can enable theacademic challenge provider to take data snapshots of the user info inorder to calculate the user's weekly activity and accomplishments, asshown in FIG. 2B.

In FIG. 2B, the Student Views A Page 207 process is involved when theuser accesses an educational content link or page associated with theacademic challenge. This may also involve some, or all, of the Link toExternal Challenges 105 process depicted in FIG. 1. For example, the 207process may involve the user clicking on a link to do “Week 1's MathAssignment” and be directed to a math curriculum provided by KhanAcademy, with access to the curriculum already enabled through singlesign-on. Immediately once the user obtains access to this educationalcontent, the base portal provider (e.g., an academic challenge providersuch as Brain Chase), may send out a request for user information toevery content provider or vendor using the Request for Info 209 process.This request for information may involve some, or all, of the 205process in FIG. 2A which may further mean that Brain Chase sends arequest for desired user info to all content providers or vendors usingeach vendor's authentication key. For example, Brain Chase may requestthe total number of “energy points” the user has accrued from KhanAcademy using Khan Academy's authentication key, while simultaneouslyrequesting the total “active time” the user has spent reading from MyONusing MyON's authentication key. This request for information is sentout to each vendor, so that accessing any educational content link willbring the user's info up-to-date for all content providers and vendors.However, in some embodiments, this request for information may be sentto a single vendor that is associated with the content that the user hasaccessed in the Student Views a Page 207 process. Afterwards, the baseportal provider (e.g., an academic challenge provider such as BrainChase), may receive a cumulative total of “energy points”, “activetime”, or any other relevant user info or metrics from the vendor in theReceive Cumulative Total 211 process. Note that Brain Chase receives acumulative total because content providers or vendors traditionally onlykeep track of the total number of points, time, etc. earned by a userrather than track changes in points or time over a defined timeframe.However, the base portal provider (e.g., an academic challenge providersuch as Brain Chase) may be more concerned with the change in points ortime over a given week, because the academic challenge may be a treasurehunt that takes place over the course of six weeks and may require usersto complete assignments issued weekly. In order to track this, theweekly activity for the user may be calculated based on the differencebetween data snapshots from week-to-week using the Weekly ActivityCalculated 213 process. This may be done using a variety of methods. Insome embodiments, the difference between data snapshots is calculated bystoring weekly cumulative totals, or at the very least the previousweek's weekly cumulative totals (taken at the end of the week, i.e. aSaturday or Sunday), in a database or data storage of some sort. Theprevious week's cumulative total is compared to, or subtracted from, theuser's current cumulative total in order to obtain the user'sachievement or activity for the week.

Timing Control and Constraints

In some embodiments, the administrative framework is designed to preventstudents from completing all contest challenges in advance. This can beuseful when one of the goals of the contest is to keep students activeand intellectually engaged for an extended period of time (e.g. 5-6weeks). As students complete a challenge, their status for the challengeis stored in a “Status” data structure that includes the semester, week,and challenge type. Challenges in this case are loosely defined as tasksthat a student must complete, such as watching the weekly intro video,or completing a reading/math assignment, or completing a bonuschallenge. Learning challenges are not available for solving until theintroductory video is watched. The clue video, crucial to solving thepuzzle, isn't revealed until all learning challenges have been completedfor that week. Students cannot complete a challenge beyond the currentweek of the Semester, so if a student begins the contest on the officialcontest start date that student is limited to completing one week ofchallenges and then must wait until the next week begins. Late-startingstudents, however, can complete as many weekly challenges as needed tocatch up to the official contest week. For example, if the contest is onWeek 4, and someone just starts the contest, the student can completeall challenges for Weeks 1-4 before running into the restrictions. Inorder to accomplish this, the framework keeps track of the enrollmentdate of the student and can compare it to the start date of the contestto make a determination on whether the student started late (and shouldbe allowed to catch-up), or is not being diligent in completing thecoursework.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an embodiment of the framework allowing forprohibiting unauthorized student activity during the progression of theacademic challenge is shown. In step 301, the user visits a studentdashboard or homepage for the academic challenge. In some embodiments,this may be the instruction page. In step 303, the system checks to seeif the academic challenge or contest has actually started. If thecontest has not started yet, then the system ends at step 305 wherefurther user action is prohibited. The user may be directed to a pageinforming of the contest's start data and asked to check back when thecontest has started. If in step 303, the contest has already begun, thesystem will then proceed to step 307 and check to see if the user'sassignment week is less than or equal to the current contest week. Forexample, the contest may already be on the second week but the user mayhave not finished the first week of assignments. If this is the case,the system ends up back at step 305, which prohibits further useraction. This is to prevent the user from continuing in the contest ifthey fall behind in their studies and is meant to motivate the user inkeeping up with the weekly assignments. Notice that step 305 may alsoprohibit further action if in step 307 the user's current week isequivalent to the contest week, which means that the user has performedall of the challenges within that week. This may change as the contestprogresses into the next week and unlocks new challenge content for theuser. If however, the user has been keeping up with the assignments andstep 307 is satisfied, then the system will proceed into step 309.Additionally, step 307 accounts for whether a student has enrolled late,as in such a scenario the student's week would be less than or equal tothe contest week. However, another way to distinguish late-enrolledstudents is to directly compare their enrollment date against the startdate of the contest and provide them with time equivalent to thedifference in their enrollment date and the contest start date to catchup in the curriculum. At step 309, the system will check to see if thestudent has viewed that week's intro video. For example, with every weekof assignments there may be an intro video for the student to watch. Thevideo may be animated, and it may help further immerse the user into theacademic challenge. If the user has not already watched that week'sintro video (such as if the week has just started), then the system willdetect that and proceed to step 311 for the user to watch the introvideo. Otherwise, if the user has already seen the video then the systemwill proceed to step 313, which assesses whether all challenges orassignments for the week have been completed.

In many cases, the challenges will not have yet been completed for theweek and the system will direct the user to step 315 to complete all thechallenges. In some embodiments, this will consist of the user clickinglinks to external challenges as discussed regarding the Link to ExternalChallenges 105 process in FIG. 1. From there, they may be directed toReading Curriculum 105 a, Writing Curriculum 105 b, Math Curriculum 105c, and a Bonus Challenge 105 d. If however, the user has completed allchallenges for the week then the system will detect that and direct theuser to step 317, rather than step 315, in order to watch a clue video.The clue video may present clues that are helpful in assisting the userin winning the overall academic challenge. For example, the clue videomay present clues about the location of the buried treasure if theacademic challenge involves a treasure hunt. After watching the cluevideo, the system will allow the user to proceed to step 319 and advanceto the next week of the contest. In doing so, the student week will beadjusted upwards in order to prevent further student action the nexttime the student visits the dashboard, until the content for the nextcontest week is unlocked.

Parallel or Serial Access and Participation

Access to content can be controlled and metered out in multiple ways.For example, a user can only be allowed to interact with a website on acertain time-based schedule. A user may also be restricted based oncontent—access to some content is allowed initially but not later, laterbut not initially, etc. Access can be granted and controlled withrespect to progress or access of other users. Accordingly, some usersmay be given access only when other users also have access, or accesscan be doled out exclusively to some but not others. Triggers andconstraints can depend on input from participants.

One useful arena for controlled access and participation is academicchallenges and/or other contests that motivate users to steadily andconsistently perform constructive tasks while competing with each otherfor a prize. Frequently, these kinds of academic challenges or contestsare run one at a time—in a serial fashion. For example, there may be aglobal contest that is available to all subscribers. However, theadministrative framework may be designed to allow multiple contests tooccur at the same time, or in parallel fashion. To accomplish this, thecontests can be organized as Semesters, with specific start and enddates. Multiple Semesters can overlap, run concurrently, or run back toback. When users sign up for the academic challenge, they can beenrolled in the appropriate semester based on their payment options.Semesters can be made up of an unlimited amount of “Weeks”. Start andend dates for each “Week” can be set by administrators. A “Week” canspan any time period, from 7 days to 1 day to 1 hour. A Semester mayhave non-consecutive weeks by setting different start/end dates forsuccessive “Weeks”. For example, if a Semester was scheduled over aholiday and participation was expected to be minimal, the holiday datescould be skipped. This framework can also enhance a user's experience byallowing the user to be in multiple contests simultaneously. Forexample, a user may be enrolled in a contest with participants fromtheir local school while also being enrolled in a contest with just ahandful of close friends.

Interface Customization

Interfaces can be customized by users or by a system automatically toimprove their efficiency and enjoyment. One trigger for suchcustomization can be enrollment in a particular contest. Since there isthe option of multiple contests, in some embodiments the framework alsoallows for the feature of customizing the student dashboard, home page,or instruction page, for different contests. To accomplish this, customavatars can be chosen for each week, or by semester, allowing fordifferent Semesters to have different artwork on the Student Dashboard.The Student Dashboard is generated automatically based on the number ofWeeks. For example, if there are only five weeks there will only be fiverows of challenges. Six weeks may result in six rows of challenges. Whena challenge is added it is assigned to a Semester. At that time customicons can be uploaded to reflect the different challenge states (e.g.available, in progress, complete, action required, etc.).

Interaction and Evaluation

Interaction through web-based systems can sometimes be enhanced whenthere is another living person accessible or involved at the other end.This can be especially true when subjective evaluation is involved. In alearning environment, some activities have objective right answers orcan be programmed, and others depend on aesthetic or other factors thatmay be ill-suited for automation or programming. Evaluation of writingstyle is an example of an activity often well-suited for humanevaluation. Nevertheless, human evaluation can be made efficient using acomputer automated system, with efficiencies in delivery, ordering forreview, fast response upon grading, comparative and/or quantitativeanalysis before or after subjective evaluation, etc.

The framework may include a teacher grading system for assessing thestudent's writing assignments. Students complete a writing assignmenteach week, and they may be required to write a certain number of wordsbased on their age. A numeric count of words written as well as aprogress bar shows how many words the student has remaining to write.They have the option to save an assignment and come back to it as wellas submit it for approval when finished. As they are writing, theassignment auto saves every 30 seconds so that minimal work is lost incase the student goes to a different page or closes the browser withoutclicking the manual “Save” or “Submit” buttons.

Accordingly, In some embodiments, data on a writing assignment can bestored in a “Writing Assignment” data structure. The “WritingAssignment” structure stores info as to who graded an assignment, anycomments about that assignment, and the grade for that assignment. Thestructure can store a history so that in the case of multiple graders,an assignment will track comments by each grader. Each assignment, bySemester/week/student, can be stored in its own structure. Thus, if anassignment has not been approved by a teacher, the student can seeteacher comments about that assignment and internalize that feedback toproduce better writing assignments in the future. After a studentwriting assignment has been submitted for grading, it is placed in aqueue visible to all teachers when logged in. The queue shows allassignments needing to be graded, oldest first. From a TeacherDashboard, the teacher can request a new grading assignment. Whengrading an assignment, the teacher can view previous assignments forthat student, previous comments by teachers, any special informationabout that student (such as learning disabilities or other items thatparents deem relevant), and biographical information such as name, age,sex, etc. The teacher grades the assignment on an Accepted/Not Acceptedbasis. The teacher can provide comments about the assignment. Theassignment can be added to the Supervisor queue for final approvalbefore the student is notified. The Supervisor can be notified via emailthat items need approval, and the Supervisor then reviews the assignmentand sends it on to the student.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an embodiment is shown of a framework thatallows for a user to submit a writing assignment for approval by ateacher and supervisor. Writing curricula and challenges provide anadditional layer of complexity over math or reading challenges. It iseasier to create a computerized-process or algorithm for assessing auser's performance in math or reading challenges. For example, it isrelatively simple and straightforward to consider a math assignmentcompleted if a given percentage of the math problems were solved withthe correct answer. However, with writing challenges there will likelyneed to be a need for at least one human being to grade the writingsubmissions. This will make sure that the user's writing submissionmeets a certain quality and prevents the user from bypassing the writingchallenge by simply submitting garbled, nonsensical text or plagiarizedtext that meets the word count. At step 401, a student submits a writingassignment for approval. The writing assignment is automaticallyproduced at step 403, where a teacher will grade the assignment on apass/fail basis and in accordance with a pre-defined rubric. Afterassigning a grade to the assignment, in step 405 a supervisor willreview the grading and either approve or disapprove the grade. At step407, the system will then determine whether the student passes. If thestudent did not pass, then the student will be directed back to step 401to face another writing challenge and submit a new writing assignmentfor approval. If the student passed, then at step 409 the student willreceive credit for the assignment. This may be reflected in the user'sinfo, such that the user may see that they have received credit for thisassignment when the user is checking their weekly progress.

Incentives, Challenges, and Contests

The framework may allow for a treasure hunt feature that is integratedwith the academic challenge. In such an embodiment, the first student toguess within two miles of the latitude/longitude of the buried treasureis the winner. Students are allowed to guess once every twenty-fourhours as to the location of the treasure. Guesses are stored in a “Hunt”structure that records the time of guess, the student name and thelatitude/longitude. A map displays all previous guesses by that student.Clicking on the map places a temporary pin on the map and sets thecoordinates for the guess. Clicking again will change move the pin andchange the coordinates. A guess is finalized when “Submit” is pressed.In some embodiments, there is a technical lock-out in place where the“Submit” button and input field are hidden if twenty-four hours has notpassed since the time of the student's last guess, based on the currentserver time and the timestamp of the student's most recent guess.

The systems and techniques for back-end content integration and useradministration may work in conjunction with an educational, academicchallenge such as the one disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No.61/940,088 for a “Incentivized Online Education Assignment Game System”,which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety and describedbelow:

A student (or parent) may register for a username and password onwww.brainchase.com and begin weekly assignments. Writing assignments areadministered internally at <www.brainchase.com>. A minimum wordrequirement may be given to respond to a short writing prompt. Thestudent may submit their completed writing assignment each week onlineat www.brainchase.com where internal graders may award the student apass or fail grade for that writing assignment. Reading and mathassignments may be administered externally by Brain Chase, such as bycontent providers MyON and Khan Academy. These sites may provide theassignments, accept assignment input responses, and grade theassignments electronically and/or automatically. The assignments mayinclude bonus challenge assignments, as described above. Students maynot be required to register online separately for these Partners. Thestudent's Brain Chase username and password may be automatically linkedto these Partners' websites, <www.MyON.com> and <www.khanacademy.com>.Partners may submit to Brain Chase in real time the progress of eachstudent.

A student (including high school/college/middle school and/or elementaryschool students) may use a computer and the Internet to register a newusername and password on www.brainchase.com to gain access to andcomplete summer challenge assignments, or bonus challenge assignments.

Each week, the student may gain access using a computer and the Internetto the required weekly assignments at <www.brainchase.com>. In someembodiments, the student may be required to complete the assignmentbefore the end of the week. In some embodiments, each assignment (orbonus challenge assignment) may have a goal that is measured in ametric, such as: minutes, hours, days, or weeks spent on the assignment(or bonus challenge assignment); or by achieving a number of assignmentscomplete; or by accumulating a certain number of partner metric points(e.g. Khan “energy points”); or by submitting a writing assignment withthe minimum number of words that was approved by a grader, etc. Thestudent must complete these assignments and reach the goals beforegaining access to an animated clue (also at <www.brainchase.com>). Insome embodiments, the student may be required to complete the assignmentbefore the end of the goal period (e.g., by the end of the week) to gainaccess to the animated clue.

The animated clues may be a series of exclusive original animatedepisodes, with hidden pictures, words, riddles, etc. These clues may beunlocked only after certain education metrics are met. For example, insome embodiments, the exact education metrics required to unlock a clueor set of clues, may be configured via desktop, mobile app, or web-baseduser interface. This configuration may be stored in an electronicdatabase (in some embodiments, the same electronic database that maystore student registration/configuration/profile information) that maybe looked up when determining whether a student or other user has metthe required metrics to unlock a clue or the next clue in a series ofclues. Each clue reveals further the location of a hidden treasure wortha large sum of money. The treasure may be buried in an undisclosedlocation on Earth. At the end of the summer challenge, the treasure'slocation may be revealed in a final clue.

In some embodiments, the system may unlock other functions/featuresbesides clues. For example, the system may unlock a child's ability toopen certain content, such as videos, iPad Apps, video games, etc. basedon completion of assignments. In some embodiments, a child may be unableto operate or play on their computer or tablet (such as an iPad), untilcompletion of the assignments. After which, the system may unlock therestricted functionality by communicating a signal to the device tounlock (e.g. to unlock until next week when assignments are due again).

Once the student has achieved the weekly (or other time period) goal,he/she may be able to access the animated clue at <www.brainchase.com>that may further reveal the location of the hidden treasure. BrainChase's Summer Challenge may continue for multiple weeks (e.g., 4, 5, 6weeks, etc.), or other time period configurable through software. Forexample, depending on a school's summer vacation period, the time toplay the game may be extended or reduced. In some embodiments, theweekly assignments may be sent out or posted each week (or other timeperiod), but a student may complete any of the past weeks assignments aswell (so as to catch up). In some embodiments, the clues may become morespecific as the weeks advance (e.g, contain more information about theburied treasure than clues in earlier weeks). The challenge may be overthe summer, and may take place over any season or length of time, suchas the spring, fall, winter, a month, week, year, fortnight, etc.

In some embodiments, the treasure may be a secret website that may beaccessed or guessed based on collection and analysis of the animatedclues. In some embodiments, the treasure may be a real, physical,treasure located on earth (e.g. the clues may lead to GPS coordinatesthat has money buried within the ground). Such a treasure may includecash, or a one-of-a-kind mechanical, gold-plated globe, or anything thatis of considerable or perceived value as a prize to a contest.

In some embodiments, users/students may go online and guess the locationof the buried treasure using a Google maps interface. This may notrequire coordinates. Instead, in some embodiments, the user/student maydrop a pin on the map interface to make their guess. The system may readthe pinned map positions and award students with sufficiently goodguesses (e.g., within a set distance of the treasure), or may award theclosest student.

In some embodiments, the treasure may not be physically buried. Instead,the treasure may only represent a map position where treasure could beburied, and the object of the game can be to provide a best guess of themap position.

In some embodiments, reading and math assignments may be administered bythird parties, such as MyON (<www.myon.com>) and Khan Academy(<www.khanacademy.com>), also known as content providers or vendors.

In a further embodiment, writing assignments are administered internallyby Brain Chase.

In some embodiments, a bonus challenge assignment may begiven/administered to students for completion, either by Brain Chase ora content provider. A bonus challenge may include a different challengeassignment each week related to a different subject, such as geographic,science, math, art, etc.

In some embodiments, students may be required to complete weeklyassignments or goals, measured by minutes, hours, or any unit of time(and/or measured by other metrics such as such as # of math problemscompleted, etc., or by tracking content provider or vendorcurrency/metrics such as by using using Khan “energy points” which mayact as a proxy for effort on a partner site), for math, reading andwriting in order to gain weekly access online to animated clues exposingthe location of the hidden treasure worth $10,000, or other configurablethreshold, such as ($1,000, 2,000, $5,000, $10,000, $20,000, $50,000,$100,000, $150,000, $200,000, $500,000, or $1,000,000 or more).

The online educational system can comprise an electronic databasecomprising a plurality of student entries, each student entry comprisinglogon and use-metric information; and a hardware processor, the hardwareprocessor configured to execute software instructions, the softwareinstructions causing the hardware processor to: receive registrationinformation from a user computer regarding a first student; access, overa network, a partner API to register the first student with a partnerwebsite or to link the first student with a student account associatedwith the partner website; receive the student account, the studentaccount associated with the first student; store in the electronicdatabase a first student entry of the plurality of student entries, thefirst student entry comprising the registration information and thestudent account; direct the first student, over the network, toassignments to be completed by the first student on the partner website;receive, over the network, first student metrics associated withcompleted assignments by the first student; store in the electronicdatabase, as a part of the first student entry, the first studentmetrics; determine, based on the first student metrics, whether thefirst student has sufficiently completed assignments for a first clue,wherein the first clue comprises a series of animations; in response todetermining that the first student has sufficiently completedassignments for a first clue, transmit clue display data, to a userdevice associated with the first student, configured to display thefirst clue; determine, based on the first student metrics, whether thefirst student has sufficiently completed assignments for a final clue;and in response to determining that the first student has sufficientlycompleted assignments for a final clue, transmit final clue displaydata, to the user device associated with the first student, configuredto display the final clue, wherein the final clue may containinformation leading to a treasure buried within the earth.

In some embodiments, the online educational system is completelycustomizable to fit the needs of various specific users (which can beorganizations or programs). For example, the curriculum can be designedto fit the needs of a particular after-school program. The program ororganization may be able to choose from a variety of options, such as,but not limited to, curriculum structure, duration, number ofchallenges, prizes, layout, theme, etc. An interface, such as agraphical user interface, can provide these programs or organizations aconvenient way to formulate a curriculum map. This may involve the usersor organizations being able to click and drag icons into differentarrangements, to emphasize or de-emphasize various aspects of theinterface.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an embodiment of a framework is shown thatallows for restricting the user in submitting guesses for the locationof a treasure when the academic challenge involves a treasure hunt. Atstep 501, the student visits a treasure hunt page. This treasure huntpage may be separate from the previously mentioned student dashboard,homepage, or instruction page. After visiting the treasure hunt page,the system proceeds to step 503 to check whether the contest has alreadystarted. If the contest has not yet started, then the system proceeds tostep 505 and prohibits the student from making any guesses about thelocation of the buried treasure. If the contest has started, the systemproceeds to step 507 to check if the user has already submitted a guessfor the location of the buried treasure in the last twenty-four hours.If yes, then the system ends up at step 505 to prohibit the student fromguessing. Note that the interval selected allows the student to submitone guess every twenty-four hours. However, the check at step 507 can beconfigured to allow any number of guess in any pre-defined timeinterval. For example, if it may be particularly easy to guess thelocation of the buried treasure in the academic challenge then thenumber of guesses permitted in a time interval may be adjusted toaccount for that ease. As another example, step 507 may be configured toallow a user to make one guess every two days. In FIG. 5, if the studenthas not submitted a guess within twenty-four hours then the systemprogresses to step 509 to allow the student to submit a guess for theburied treasure.

Added security and secrecy regarding the location of the treasure can beprovided by not actually storing the treasure location in a database. Insuch scenarios, there may not be a computerized process after step 509that checks the student's guess against a stored treasure location.Instead, all the guesses from all the users may be time stamped andsaved in a database. An administrator can then search the databasethrough all the students' guesses in order to find the guesses that areclosest to the actual treasure location. The administrator can also lookat the timestamps affixed to the students' guesses and determine whichstudent's guess discovered the actual treasure location first.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a user experience in a basic computer-basedacademic challenge that utilizes improved (e.g., seamless) contentintegration is shown. In FIG. 6, the Begin 601 process handles theenrollment and log-in of users in the system. If a user does not have anaccount already, the Begin 601 process will obtain information from theuser and enroll the user in a base account that allows the user accessto the system, which in some embodiments may be used to administer orcomprise an educational challenge. The Begin 601 process will thenperform one-step registration by using the information obtained from theuser to create and set up linked accounts with various content providersor vendors. These linked accounts may be linked to the base account inorder to provide for single sign-on, so that the user only needs toaccess their base account in order to simultaneously obtain access tothe linked accounts and the content provided at the various contentproviders or vendors. If the user already has an account, then the usercan log-in via the Begin 601 process and access their base account,which may also provide simultaneous access to any of the linked accountsthat are linked to the base account. In some embodiments, the user willuse the Begin 601 process in order to access their base account at aURL, such as <www.brainchase.com>. In some embodiments, accessing thebase account may provide direct access to the linked accounts or allowthe user to access or view content from the content providers orvendors. In some embodiments, the linked accounts will be associatedwith providers or vendors of educational content, such as <www.myon.com>and <www.khanacademy.com>.

Again, linking the user's linked accounts to their base account can bevery helpful in allowing the system to provide single sign-on for theuser. Once the user logs into their base account, they will gain accessto all the linked accounts of the various content provides or vendorsand, thus, all the content, assignments, and curricula involved in theacademic challenge. This allows the provider of the academic challengeto more smoothly (e.g., seamlessly) integrate the content from variouscontent providers or vendors. When the user is playing through theacademic challenge, the user will not need to proceed through anotherlog-in or enrollment process. The user will not need to log into acontent provider's site in order to access assignments or curriculum,which means there are no breaks in continuity of the user's immersion inthe academic challenge. In short, the user can be solely focused on theacademic challenge and completing the relevant assignments without beingdetracted by various log-in or enrollment processes.

The Begin at Instruction Page 603 process then directs the user to aninstruction page. In some embodiments, the instruction page may providelinks to assignments or curricula that the user may need to complete. Insome embodiments, the instruction page may require the assignments orcurricula to be completed in a certain sequence or within a certain setschedule in order for links to further additional assignments orcurricula to be unlocked and accessible to the user. For example, inorder for the user to progress in the educational challenge the user maybe forced to proceed through the links in a specific order that thesystem will prevent the user from deviating from. In some embodiments,the instruction page may provide the user instructions or goals for theweek. For example, the user may be informed that, for the week, the userneeds to earn 500 Khan “energy points”, read for 30 minutes, submit onewriting journal, and complete one bonus assignment.

Once users click on instruction page links, the Link to ExternalChallenges 605 process directs users to a specific page that providesmore specific information associated with the assignment or curriculum.In some embodiments, the Link to External Challenges 605 process directsa user to specific Brain Chase pages that provide specifics on aparticular weekly assignment. In some embodiments, the user may bedirected to pages hosted by, or directly associated with, a contentprovider or vendor. For example, clicking a link associated with aReading Curriculum 605 a or Math Curriculum 605 c may direct the user topages of education content providers MyON and KhanAcademy. In someembodiments, the user may be directed to pages hosted and administeredinternally by the provider of the computer-based academic challenge. Forexample, clicking a link associated with a Writing Curriculum 605 b orBonus Challenge 605 d may direct the user to pages provided by BrainChase. The benefit provided by having the Link to External Challenges605 process direct users to various content providers or vendors basedon subject selected is that the best-in-class content provider for agiven subject, assignment, or curriculum can be utilized.

The various curriculums and challenges 605 a, 605 b, 605 c, and 605 dwill now be explained in more detail. In some embodiments, clicking alink associated with a Reading Curriculum 605 a may bring the userdirectly into their MyON linked account that is linked to their baseaccount. The user may then use the MyON-provided interface to select abook and then read for a duration of time. MyON may track this activetime spent reading, along with any other relevant metrics, andcommunicate this information in real-time back to the Brain Chase baseaccount. In some embodiments, the content provided by MyON may actuallybe directly integrated and displayed on a page provided by Brain Chase,or other provider of a computer-based academic challenge. In someembodiments, Brain Chase itself may be providing the reading content.

In some embodiments, clicking a link associated with a WritingCurriculum 605 b may bring the user directly into the user's linkedaccount of a writing content provider that is linked to the user's baseaccount. In some embodiments, Brain Chase itself may be providing thewriting content. For example, the writing assignment may be internallydelivered. The user will be sent to a Brain Chase page with anopen-ended writing prompt and will begin a text field on the page. Eachuser may have a minimum word count requirement based on the user's age,which may have been collected during the user's enrollment during theBegin 601 process. Once the user exceeds the word limit, the user cansubmit the work for review from Brain Chase's internal teaching staffand will subsequently receive pass/fail feedback.

In some embodiments, clicking a link associated with a Math Curriculum605 c may bring the user directly into their Khan Academy linked accountthat is linked to their base account. As the user completes differentmath problems and watches different videos, the user will earn “energypoints” on Khan Academy. Brain Chase, or another provider of theacademic challenge, may track these energy points in real time via theKhan Academy open API. In some embodiments, the content provided by KhanAcademy may actually be directly integrated and displayed on a pageprovided by Brain Chase, or other provider of a computer-based academicchallenge. In some embodiments, Brain Chase itself may be providing themath content.

In some embodiments, clicking a link associated with a Bonus Challenge605 d may direct the user to either online or offline content thatpresents a “bonus challenge” for the user. For example, the user mayhave a “bonus challenge” each week that is notably distinct from theassignments and curricula associated with 605 a, 605 b, and 605 c. Forexample, the user may receive a compass in the mail and be required todo some orienteering. As another example, the user may be directed tothe Smithsonian Museum's Virtual Tour to find or locate a virtualobject. In some embodiments, Bonus Challenge 605 d will provide the userinstructions and a text field for the user to input an answer into. Thissubmitted answer may be binary in nature, such that user is either rightor wrong.

Further in reference to FIG. 6, after a user has clicked a link andutilized the Link to External Challenges 605 process to review pagescontaining assignments or curricula associated with 605 a, 605 b, 605 c,and 605 d, the user may use the Return to Instruction page 607 processin order to return to the instruction page at any point. The user willthen be presented with an updated-instruction page so that the user cansee where they stand in achieving the week's assignments. For example,the user may see that they have completed 36 of 45 reading minutes,completed enough math problems to earn 3500 of the 5000 required Khan“energy points”, or completed their writing sample. It can be helpful ifthis instruction page is kept up-to-date so that the user cancontinually keep track of their process and obtain immediate positivefeedback from completing assignments. Keeping the instruction pageup-to-date is performed by taking data snapshots from user inforequested from each vendor, which is enabled by successfulauthentication with the vendor.

When all of the requirements have been met, the Unlock Streaming Video609 process unlocks a streaming video, or a link to streaming video, ona page of the academic challenge provider. In some embodiments, theUnlock Streaming Video 609 process unlocks a streaming video on<www.brainchase.com> for the user to view once all the assignments orchallenges for the week have been successfully completed.

Upon viewing the unlocked streaming video, the user may have to repeatthe entire system of processes at another time, such as on the followingweek. The Continue 611 process may present the user with a clockcountdown that indicates when following assignments will be given, andthat clock countdown may be displayed on the instruction page to beprominently featured in future log-ins. In some embodiments, the usermay have to repeat this entire system of processes for six weeks untilall assignments have been completed and the user has viewed all of theanimated content or videos associated with the academic challenge.

There is no limit to the number of assignments, challenges, or weeksthat a contest may have. The logic that assesses whether a challenge hasbeen completed may not consider how many challenges there are in a week,or how many challenges there are in total. In some embodiments, thenumber of challenges may vary week by week. It may be helpful toconsider how different numbers of challenges may impact the visualdisplay on the dashboard, such as how the challenges may fit and bedisplayed on the dashboard. The visual display on the dashboard may beconfigured to display eight or fewer challenges per week. However, thevisual display on the dashboard may alternatively or additionally beconfigured to accommodate any number of challenges. In some embodiments,the visual display on the dashboard may accommodate an infinite numberof challenges. Similarly, the visual display on the dashboard mayaccommodate any number of weeks. This may be accomplished by adding orremoving weeks, along with their corresponding videos and challenges, tothe visual display. The dashboard may be configured to display a sixweek contest, along with the video content and challenges that thestudent is expected to go through during those six weeks.

Screenshots of Actual Portal and Web Views

Referring now to FIG. 7, a screenshot of a portal page in an example usescenario is shown involving the account creation, linking, and log-inprocesses discussed above with respect to FIG. 1A. Here, the method fordetermining whether the user is new, or has a pre-existing base account,is through presenting the user with input fields to enter relevant baseaccount information such as username/user ID and password, while alsopresenting a separate link or button allowing new users to enroll orregister. If the user is a new user, they can click Sign Up Link 701,which is a hyperlink that directs the user to a registration process.That process can collect relevant information from the user needed tocreate a base account, such as birthdate or age, grade, username or userID, password, email, information associated with a parent of the user,etc. This registration process may also create linked accounts for theuser. They user may not be aware that these linked accounts are beingcreated, or the registration process may inform the user that linkedaccounts for the user have been, or will be, created. Once registered,the user may be directed through to the dashboard area of the contest,or be directed back to the portal page to enter their credentials like auser with a pre-existing base account may be required to.

On the portal page, if the user has a pre-existing base account then theuser may enter their username or user ID in the Username Field 703,along with their password in Password Field 705. After entering in thesecredentials, the user may then click on Log-In Button 707 in order tobegin a log-in process. Log-In Button 707 may be greyed out or inactivebefore the user has made inputs to both the Username Field 703 andPassword Field 705, and only become clickable once the user has madethose inputs. Afterwards, the log-in process will verify the credentialsthat the user has inputted against the base account credentials in thedata structure that stores all the base account information alongsidetheir associated linked account information. If the log-in issuccessful, then the log-in process may also log the user into anyassociated linked accounts using the information stored in the datastructure. A portal page with this kind of layout and functionality maybe useful because it is not only aesthetically simplistic, but also itmay be the only log-in screen that a user may be required to go throughin order to finish the contest. Such an approach can provide forefficient access because the user may only need to enter credentialsonce in order to log into any associated linked accounts, and afterwardsthe user would have access to any content requiring the use of thelinked accounts.

Referring now to FIG. 8, a screenshot of a dashboard page in an exampleuse scenario is shown involving the back-end integration of third-partycontent providers. In one embodiment, this dashboard page is the pagethat users are directed to upon a successful log-in. Time Display 801shows the current week of the contest that the user is on, as well asthe time until the next week starts. The numbers shown on Time Display801 in this diagram are for example purposes only. Time Display 801 onthe dashboard may typically be helpful in notifying the user how muchtime they have left in finishing the challenges for the week in order tostay in the contest. Time Display 801 may also be helpful in notifying auser, who has already completed the week's challenges, about how muchtime the user needs to wait until the next set of weekly challenges isunlocked.

Week Display 803 informs the user that the videos and weekly challengesthat are horizontally aligned with Week Display 803 are associated withthe first week of the contest. Similarly, Week Display 813, which says“Week 2”, informs the user that those videos and challenges horizontallyaligned with Week Display 813 are part of the second week of thecontest.

For the first week, the user has to first watch Introductory Video 805.Here, the first week has been unlocked so Introductory Video 805 can bewatched by the user whenever the user desires. Introductory Video 805serves to progress the animated storyline and is meant to furtherimmerse the user into the contest. In contrast, Introductory Video 815is associated with the second week of challenges. In this screenshot,the second week has not been unlocked yet so Introductory Video 815 isgrayed-out and cannot be accessed until made available.

For the first week, four challenges are displayed for the user: ReadingChallenge 807 a, Writing Challenge 807 b, Math Challenge 807 c, andBonus Challenge 807 d. The graphics for these challenges are slightlydifferent than the graphics for the second week's challenges, shown in817 a, 817 b, 817 c, 817 d. For example, the exclamation sign in theupper right corner of the Reading Challenge 807 a graphic informs theuser that the Reading Challenge for week one is available and has notyet been completed. The check mark in the upper right corner of theBonus Challenge 807 d graphic notifies the user that the bonus challengehas been successfully completed for the week. The 817 a, 817 b, 817 c,and 817 d graphics do not have exclamation mark or check mark insets,which further informs the user that the second week has not yet beenunlocked. Clicking on challenge graphics 807 a, 807 b, 807 c, and 807 dbrings the user directly to a page that displays the content for thechallenge associated with the challenge graphic. For example, uponclicking the Reading Challenge 807 a graphic the user may be directed toa page with the reading challenge for week one. However, in someembodiments clicking on the challenge graphics may not direct the userto an entirely separate page, but can instead open a pop-up windowcontaining the content for the associated challenge.

Clue Video 809 is the video associated with week one of the contest.However, in this screenshot it is still locked because the user has notyet completed the first week's reading, writing, and math challenges.Once the user has completed those challenges, Clue Video 809 will unlockand be viewable to the user, similar to how Introductory Video 805 iscurrent available to the user for viewing. At any time, the user mayclick the Find the Treasure 819 link to be brought to a treasure huntpage to make a guess as to where the location of the buried treasure is.However, prior to guessing it may be helpful for the user to have viewedall of the clue videos in order to better pinpoint the location of theburied treasure.

The layout presented here may be helpful because it allows the userefficient access to all of the challenge content. Since the user isalready logged onto any linked accounts using the single sign-on methoddiscussed above with reference to FIG. 1A, the user does not need to doanymore logging-in to access any challenges. The user can simply clickon each challenge graphic and start completing that challenge. Thechallenge graphics 807 a, 807 b, 807 c, and 807 d also efficientlycommunicate what kind of challenge the user will be directed to. Thechallenge graphics are also right next to each other, so that the usercan easily find and complete each challenge in succession. This layoutmay further be helpful in quickly informing the user which challengesare associated with the current week of the contest, as well as whichchallenges or videos have been completed or viewed. A quick glance atthis dashboard page will inform the user that the first week's reading,writing, and math challenges are unlocked but uncompleted, whereas thefirst week's bonus challenge has been unlocked but completed by theuser. Finally, Contest Trail 811 is used to graphically connect theending of the contest's first week to the beginning of the contest'ssecond week. This can provide a user, who may be a young student, with abetter idea of how the weeks of the contest fit together, the overallprogression of the contest, and where the user's current progression isin the contest. Thus, this layout may be helpful in matching a user'snatural inclination to read texts and graphics from left-to-right beforereading top-to-bottom.

Referring now to FIG. 9, another screenshot is provided of the dashboardpage in an example use scenario is shown. FIG. 9 shows what thedashboard looks like if the user scrolls downward. As can be seen, thevideos and challenges for each week of the contest are shown in a simpleand consistent manner, allowing for easy readability. The sixth week ispresented at the very bottom, which makes it easy to understand that thesixth week is the last week of the contest. Referring now to FIG. 10, ascreenshot of a treasure hunt page in an example use scenario is showninvolving the framework for restricting user submission of guesses forthe location of a treasure, as discussed above with respect to FIG. 5.This treasure hunt page contains a Guess Timer 1001, which is there toinform the user when they can make their next guess as to the locationof the buried treasure. Here, the Guess Timer 1001 is zeroed, but if theGuess Timer 1001 has time on it, the user will not be able to make aguess until the displayed time has run down to zero. In this embodiment,the treasure hunt has been structured to only allow the user one guessevery twenty-four hours. Guess Timer 1001 may indirectly track when theuser last made a guess. There may be a technical lock-out in place, sothat the user will be unable to make a guess at all until Guess Timer1001 runs down to zero.

Location Map 1003 provides the user a visual display of the region inwhich the treasure may be buried. In some embodiments, Location Map 1003is presented through the use of a third-party tool or API, such asGoogle Maps. Location Map 1003 may display, through the use of apointer, previous locations that the user has incorrectly guessed. Whenthe technical lock-out is not being applied, the user may be able toclick somewhere on Location Map 1003 in order to make another guessabout the treasure's location. The process of making the guess mayinvolve the user submitting coordinates after clicking on Location Map1003. Location Pointer 1005 shows a visual depiction of a location onLocation Map 1003. Location Pointer 1005 may be used to point out aprevious incorrect guess of the user, or it may be used to point outwhere exactly a user's guess location is before the user submits it.This may be beneficial in allowing the user to see where they areguessing, such that they do not submit a guess for the treasure locationthat involves the treasure being buried out in the middle of the ocean.

Referring now to FIG. 11, a screenshot of third-party content is shown.This screenshot may depict the view that a user may have see if theyhave clicked on a math challenge, such as if the user has clicked on theMath Challenge 807 c graphic in FIG. 8. The content can be smoothly(e.g., seamlessly) integrated into the contest, so the user may bebrought to a page such as the one shown in FIG. 11 without having tofurther log-in. FIG. 11 is only an example, and in some embodiments theuser may be brought directly to a page that presents the user mathproblems, or a writing input field, etc. In the current figure, the usercan see that this content is being provided by Khan Academy, as shown inthe upper left hand corner of the site. The Grade Label 1101 informs theuser that the account is currently set up at the 4th Grade level, so anymath problems presented to the user will be at a 4th Grade level. Thus,a user can quickly see what difficulty level the content is set at andwhether it is incorrect. A user who is a 6th grader may not want to bedoing math problems that are meant to be solved by 4th graders. Here, ifthe grade level is correct then the user may click Start Button 1103 inorder to start the math challenge.

Additional Embodiments

While the foregoing is directed to various embodiments, other andfurther embodiments may be devised without departing from the basicscope thereof. For example, aspects of the present disclosure may beimplemented in hardware or software or in a combination of hardware andsoftware. An embodiment of the disclosure may be implemented as aprogram product for use with a computer system. The program(s) of theprogram product define functions of the embodiments (including themethods described herein) and may be contained on a variety ofcomputer-readable storage media. Illustrative computer-readable storagemedia include, but are not limited to: (i) non-writable storage media(e.g., read-only memory devices within a computer such as CD-ROM disksreadable by a CD-ROM drive, flash memory, ROM chips or any type ofsolid-state non-volatile semiconductor memory) on which information ispermanently stored; and (ii) writable storage media (e.g., hard-diskdrive or any type of solid-state random-access semiconductor memory) onwhich alterable information is stored. Each of the processes, methods,and algorithms described in the preceding sections may be embodied in,and fully or partially automated by, code modules executed by one ormore computer systems or computer processors comprising computerhardware. The processes and algorithms may alternatively be implementedpartially or wholly in application-specific circuitry.

The various features and processes described above may be usedindependently of one another, or may be combined in various ways. Allpossible combinations and subcombinations are intended to fall withinthe scope of this disclosure. In addition, certain method or processblocks may be omitted in some implementations. The methods and processesdescribed herein are also not limited to any particular sequence, andthe blocks or states relating thereto can be performed in othersequences that are appropriate. For example, described blocks or statesmay be performed in an order other than that specifically disclosed, ormultiple blocks or states may be combined in a single block or state.The example blocks or states may be performed in serial, in parallel, orin some other manner. Blocks or states may be added to or removed fromthe disclosed example embodiments. The example systems and componentsdescribed herein may be configured differently than described. Forexample, elements may be added to, removed from, or rearranged comparedto the disclosed example embodiments.

Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or“may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understoodwithin the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certainembodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certainfeatures, elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is notgenerally intended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are inany way required for one or more embodiments or that one or moreembodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without userinput or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps areincluded or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

The term “comprising” as used herein should be given an inclusive ratherthan exclusive interpretation. For example, a general purpose computercomprising one or more processors should not be interpreted as excludingother computer components, and may possibly include such components asmemory, input/output devices, and/or network interfaces, among others.

Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow diagramsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should beunderstood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions ofcode which include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executedout of order from that shown or discussed, including substantiallyconcurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-describedembodiments, the elements of which are among other acceptable examples.All such modifications and variations are intended to be included hereinwithin the scope of this disclosure. The foregoing description detailscertain embodiments of the disclosure, some of which are inventive. Itwill be appreciated, however, that no matter how detailed the foregoingappears in text, the solutions of this disclosure may be practiced inmany ways. As is also stated above, it should be noted that the use ofparticular terminology when describing certain features or aspects ofthe disclosure should not be taken to imply that the terminology isbeing re-defined herein to be restricted to including any specificcharacteristics of the features or aspects of the disclosure with whichthat terminology is associated. The scope of any inventions hereundershould therefore be construed in accordance with the appended claims andany equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: an electronic database comprising a plurality of student entries, each student entry comprising logon and use-metric information; and a hardware processor, the hardware processor configured to execute software instructions, the software instructions causing the hardware processor to: receive registration information from a user computer regarding a first student; access, over a network, a partner API to register the first student with a partner website or to link the first student with a student account associated with the partner website; receive the student account, the student account associated with the first student; store in the electronic database a first student entry of the plurality of student entries, the first student entry comprising registration information and the student account; direct the first student, over the network, to assignments to be completed by the first student on the partner website; receive, over the network, first student metrics associated with completed assignments by the first student; store in the electronic database, as a part of the first student entry, the first student metrics; determine, based on the first student metrics, whether the first student has sufficiently completed assignments for a first clue, wherein the first clue comprises a series of animations; in response to determining that the first student has sufficiently completed assignments for a first clue, transmit clue display data, to a user device associated with the first student, configured to display the first clue; determine, based on the first student metrics, whether the first student has sufficiently completed assignments for a final clue; and in response to determining that the first student has sufficiently completed assignments for a final clue, transmit final clue display data, to the user device associated with the first student, configured to display the final clue, wherein the final clue may contain information leading to a treasure buried within the earth.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to: receive guesses associated with the first student as to a geographical location of the treasure; record, in the electronic database, guesses associated with the first student in accordance with constraints; determine whether the guesses as to the geographical location of the treasure are within a threshold distance of the geographical location of the treasure; and generate an alert in response to a determination that the guesses are within the threshold distance.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the constraints comprise a timing constraint, such a current guess is only recorded after 24 hours has passed since a previous guess.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first student metrics comprise identifying information as to graders of the completed assignments, feedback comments associated with the completed assignments, and grades associated with completed assignments, wherein the grades indicate the level of satisfactory completion of the completed assignments.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to: receive completed assignments associated with the first student; sort the completed assignments into a queue, wherein the queue comprises a plurality of completed assignments without grade information; receive requests for new assignments, wherein new assignments comprise one of the completed assignments in the queue; and associate a first grader with new assignments.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to display the queue on a grader dashboard, wherein the grader dashboard is a graphical user interface through which the first grader can view the queue.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the grader dashboard is further configured to display historical information relating to the first student associated with completed assignments, the historical information comprising at least one of: first student metrics, any previous completed assignments associated with the first student, grade information associated with any previous completed assignments, or biological information relating to the first student.
 8. A method comprising: receiving registration information from a user computer regarding a first student; accessing, over a network, a partner API to register the first student with a partner website or to link the first student with a student account associated with the partner website; receiving the student account, the student account associated with the first student; storing in the electronic database a first student entry of a plurality of student entries, the first student entry comprising registration information and the student account; directing the first student, over the network, to assignments to be completed by the first student on the partner website; receiving, over the network, first student metrics associated with completed assignments by the first student; storing in the electronic database, as a part of the first student entry, first student metrics; determining, based on the first student metrics, whether the first student has sufficiently completed assignments for a first clue, wherein the first clue comprises a series of animations; in response to determining that the first student has sufficiently completed assignments for a first clue, transmitting clue display data, to a user device associated with the first student, configured to display the first clue; determining, based on the first student metrics, whether the first student has sufficiently completed assignments for a final clue; and in response to determining that the first student has sufficiently completed assignments for a final clue, transmitting final clue display data, to the user device associated with the first student, configured to display the final clue, wherein the final clue may contain information leading to a treasure buried within the earth.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving guesses associated with the first student as to a geographical location of the treasure; recording, in the electronic database, guesses associated with the first student in accordance with constraints; determining whether the guesses as to the geographical location of the treasure are within a threshold distance of the geographical location of the treasure; and generating an alert in response to a determination that the guesses are within the threshold distance.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the constraints comprise a timing constraint, such a current guess is only recorded after 24 hours has passed since a previous guess.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the first student metrics comprise identifying information as to graders of the completed assignments, feedback comments associated with the completed assignments, and grades associated with completed assignments, wherein the grades indicate the level of satisfactory completion of the completed assignments.
 12. The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving completed assignments associated with the first student; sorting the completed assignments into a queue, wherein the queue comprises a plurality of completed assignments without grade information; receiving requests for new assignments, wherein new assignments comprise one of the completed assignments in the queue; and associating a first grader with new assignments.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: causing the queue to be displayed on a grader dashboard, wherein the grader dashboard is a graphical user interface through which the first grader can view the queue.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising causing the grader dashboard to display historical information relating to the first student associated with completed assignments, the historical information comprising at least one of: first student metrics, any previous completed assignments associated with the first student, grade information associated with any previous completed assignments, or biological information relating to the first student.
 15. Non-transitory computer readable medium storing software instructions thereon, the software instructions when executed causing a computer system to: receive registration information from a user computer regarding a first student; access, over a network, a partner API to register the first student with a partner website or to link the first student with a student account associated with the partner website; receive the student account, the student account associated with the first student; store in the electronic database a first student entry of a plurality of student entries, the first student entry comprising registration information and the student account; direct the first student, over the network, to assignments to be completed by the first student on the partner website; receive, over the network, first student metrics associated with completed assignments by the first student; store in the electronic database, as a part of the first student entry, first student metrics; determine, based on the first student metrics, whether the first student has sufficiently completed assignments for a first clue, wherein the first clue comprises a series of animations; in response to determining that the first student has sufficiently completed assignments for a first clue, transmit clue display data, to a user device associated with the first student, configured to display the first clue; determine, based on the first student metrics, whether the first student has sufficiently completed assignments for a final clue; and in response to determining that the first student has sufficiently completed assignments for a final clue, transmit final clue display data, to the user device associated with the first student, configured to display the final clue, wherein the final clue may contain information leading to a treasure buried within the earth.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the software instructions when executed further causes a computer system to: receive guesses associated with the first student as to a geographical location of the treasure; record, in the electronic database, guesses associated with the first student in accordance with constraints; determine whether the guesses as to the geographical location of the treasure are within a threshold distance of the geographical location of the treasure; and generate an alert in response to a determination that the guesses are within the threshold distance.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the constraints comprise a timing constraint, such a current guess is only recorded after 24 hours has passed since a previous guess.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the first student metrics comprise identifying information as to graders of the completed assignments, feedback comments associated with the completed assignments, and grades associated with completed assignments, wherein the grades indicate the level of satisfactory completion of the completed assignments.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the software instructions when executed further causes a computer system to: receive completed assignments associated with the first student; sort the completed assignments into a queue, wherein the queue comprises a plurality of completed assignments without grade information; receive requests for new assignments, wherein new assignments comprise one of the completed assignments in the queue; and associate a first grader with new assignments.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, further comprising: causing the queue to be displayed on a grader dashboard, wherein the grader dashboard is a graphical user interface through which the first grader can view the queue. 